Things I Dread...Or it's 'That' Time Again....

I'm whiney today--as opposed to yesterday when I was surly. Tomorrow? Who knows. It's a safe bet that--unless I wake up to balmy temps above freezing for a change--my mood won't be much improved. It's been a he!! of a winter so far. Ice storms. Snow storms. Blizzards. Record snows. Record cold temps. Record whining.
If the weather wasn't enough to make me want to make like a grizzly and hibernate, tax time for me is also here. My appointment is Saturday.
Which brings me to the subject of my blog: Things I dread.
I figured why waste a perfectly good--and lengthy--list of 'Sucky Things I Have to Deal With'. Why not share the 'joy' with all of you. So, here's the abbreviated list of things I have to do, suckiness notwithstanding. Items included are not listed in order of suckiness.
Things I Have To Do But All Things Considered, I'd Rather Pass

• Mix oil and gas for my two-stage snowblower
• Snow throw, shovel snow, walk, drive, be in snow
• Prepare tax info for my tax guy
• Take tax info to my tax guy
• Iron my work shirts and pants (I'm too cheap to take them to the cleaners)
• Have knee surgery to put my kneecap back where it really belongs
• Start a regular exercise program (again)
• Eat less chocolate and consume more veggies
• Pick up the branches and twigs left over from the recent ice storm and haul them away
• Prepare for a spring garage sale
• Begin to renovate my garage office and bathroom
• Take down wallpaper border (ugh)
• Paint the living room
• File FAFSA in triplicate

While I might ultimately reap benefits from accomplishing items on the list above, the process itself is rather tedious. And sucky.
What things appear on your 'Ultimate Suck' list? What chores do you loathe doing? Put off for as long as you can?
~Bullet Hole who is freezing her tail off and dreaming of spring~

Things That Make Me Smile

Verydemotivational.com - The Web Site I Wish I'd Thought Of...

It's bad enough that Goebbels keeps telling dirty knock/knock jokes and Goering won't pass the saurkraut...now this!

You know, I always wondered what happened to this guy. Now we know.

How does he light it?

Maybe living in the Midwest with the snow and ice isn't so bad after all...

You have to admit...he looks pretty happy.

May you be motivated today, too!

The Assassin

Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire

Are You a Liar? No? Yes?

Do you feel offended just by being asked the question? I do. I mean, lying is bad, morally wrong. So why do I do it? Fine, I’m admitting it. I lie. I’m a big fat liar. And no, I’m not talking about writing fiction. But I’ll admit, the idea of this blog came to me because of my fiction. I mean, my characters, like me, are known to lie on occasion. And it sort of makes for a great story.

Don’t judge me. The truth is that we all lie. Have you ever seen the move, Liar, Liar. It really brings home the fact that, well, lying isn’t all bad. It also brings to light the quote, "The truth? You can't handle the truth!" - Jack Nicholson, "A Few Good Men"

As a kid, I remember being taught to lie at church. Mom would give me a little push, and say, “Go tell Mrs. Campbell that she looks pretty today. It will make her feel happy.” Let me tell you, Mrs. Campbell never looked pretty. Mrs. Campbell kind of looked like Uncle Bob, if Uncle Bob gained a few pounds, put on a dress and had a beard. Deep in my self-conscience, I think the lesson I learned was that lying to make someone feel happy was okay. Not to mention the lesson that I keep a pair a tweezers near my bedside table as I grow old.

Then there are the lies we tell our innocent children. You don’t do that, huh? Well, I knew my parents lied to me. I’m not just talking about the tooth fairy and such. I was not going to believe that the stork brought my baby brother. I had a girlfriend at school that told me how it really happened. Daddy kissed my mom while eating a baby seed and Mom swallowed it whole. At six, it sounded pretty gross to me.

Then there are the put-on-the-spot polite lies. The ones I think we should get away with carte blanche. For example: My neighbor recently asked, “Do you like my new hairstyle?” Of which I boldly lied, “Yeah. It’s really suits you.” But I was really thinking: Hack job. Hack Job. Your ears are not your best feature. I know some people consider those white lies. But what makes them white? And what about the saying, “The truth will set you free?” Does my neighbor need to know her haircut is butt ugly? When I ask my husband if my hair looks okay, I do expect the truth, don’t I? So do we opt to tell the truth to those closest to us, hurting them? I.E. “You’re right, those jeans make your ass look as big as Texas.” While we spare the feelings of those we care less about? Hmm, something seems backwards about that.

Then there are the everyday casual lies that play into 99% of everyone’s day. i.e. “How are you doing?” Which we mostly answer, “Fine. Thanks.” Now seriously, do you think my mail lady really wants to hear that last night’s shrimp didn’t sit well with me? Or that hubby snored extra loud, and the dog passed gas all night, so I didn’t sleep well? If I told her the truth, she’d probably view me as some socially unacceptable being and would ask to change routes. So I guess, what I’m saying is that lying is practically expected of us.

Plus, there are the times that lying protects us. Think of times you tell someone you already have plans, so you can avoid an unpleasant event, like eating at someone’s Aunt Bessie’s who gave you food poison the last time you visited. Or the old “Washing my hair” excuse that saves women from going out with a guy that they think is sort of sleazy. Sure, you could go with the, “I don’t think we have anything in common.” but that bit of vague truth will bring on more questions and perhaps lead to more lies.

When we really get down to the nitty gritty about lying, I think the ethically incorrectness of lying isn’t so much about not telling the truth, it’s about why we lie. Is it for the good of everyone? Or only for the good of oneself? But if we are caught lying for the good of someone, doesn’t that make us less trust worthy?

Below are some interesting facts I found on lying:

12% of adults admit to telling lies "sometimes" or "often". The profession with the highest number of liars is teaching, with 65% admitting to telling lies, and a surprising 18% telling surveyors that they tell lies "routinely". The most dishonest time of day is between 9 and 9:30 in the evening, with the early hours of the morning most likely to reveal the truth. Australians are the most honest people in the world, followed closely by Norwegians, Swedes and Belgians. On the other hand, Wales has by far the highest percentage of liars (93%), and the lowest percentage of people who actually admitted to being economical with the truth (a mere 1%). When asked the question "are you a liar?" nearly 97% of people answer "no". When the remaining 3% (self-confessed liars) are subjected to questions calibrating their real, rather than perceived honesty, they turn out to be, on average, 28 times more honest than the people who claimed they never lied. (((SO BASICALLY LIARS ARE MORE HONEST THAN NON-LIARS. Hmmm?)))The most profligate liar in history was US president Richard Nixon, who researchers found to have lied on record 837 times on a single day.

So, do you strive to tell the truth, even when the truth could hurt someone? I admit, I will often try to find a vague answer that can’t be interrupted to be good or bad, so I will feel better about not lying. But in the end, isn’t that the same thing as lying?

WHO DAT!!!!!

VERY excited to have the New Orleans Saints win a conference championship (first time in franchise history) and go to the Superbowl. The game was a nail-biter that came down to a field goal in overtime. I yelled, the pets stared. It was a very intense couple of hours, but it ended well.

WHO DAT DEY SAY GONNA BEAT DEM SAINTS!!!!!!

Well, realistically speaking, let's hope it's not Peyton Manning and the Colts. I think they're going to be a HUGE challenge.

In other news, it was a fabulous weekend. DARA was Saturday and our guest speaker was none other than Killer Fiction's Christie Craig who gave a VERY informative workshop and entertained the hell out of everyone with one of her stories about things that could only happen to her. Congrat, Christie - you were a roaring success.

I also got the new cover for SHOWDOWN IN MUDBUG and LOVE IT!!!!!!!! Dorchester has the absolute best cover artists. Check this out and tell me you don't think it's the cutest thing ever.



Deadly DeLeon

Stormy Weather

As some of you may have heard, California has been hit by massive storms this past week. We are a state that is not prepared for storms. Heat waves? No prob. Drought? A yearly thing. Earthquakes? We call it ground surfing here. But this week threw us for a loop. It’s been raining and hailing like crazy up here in Nor. Cal, and they’ve had major flooding down south. Luckily, they drained the lake last week in anticipation of the storm, so the creek behind my house is high, but not overflowing. Our front yard is totally flooded and there are down trees everywhere, but we’re not floating away yet, so I’m taking that as a good sign.

But yesterday, the weather got eve more fun. We got an emergency tornado wanring.
I repeat – a tornado warning! (Um, this is Califnrnia. We don’t do tornadoes.) The notice said we should hide in our basements (this is CA… none of us have basements!!! In fact, outside of TV, I’ve never even seen a basement.) or storm cellars (again… this is CA… we don’t have storms, let alone storm cellars!!!) or under the stairs. Needless to say, I was watching the clouds all afternoon for funnels. I’ve lived in CA my whole life and NEVER heard anything like this. My 9 year old said, “Cool! We’ll be like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. I hope we land on a witch!”

If I see any women on bicycles flying past my window, I’m totally hiding under the stairs.

So, what’s the weather like in your neck of the woods?

~Trigger (and tornado) Happy Halliday

Skating, anyone?

The above picture pretty much tells you how my day is starting off. Pick a window--any window--and that's the view you'll see from my home this morning. Yesterday, as well. With ice accumulating on power lines and tree limbs, I count myself very lucky to have electricity this morning. (Can you hear me knocking on wood?) Many here in the Heartland are not as fortunate.

Yesterday afternoon I decided I'd better try to see if I could chip away some of the ice out front. I can only hope no one was secretly recording my 'Disney on Ice' (think 'Goofy') performance on my driveway. A very sloping driveway. I put one foot out and I was gone, baby, gone--sliding down the driveway on my backside. Good thing I have sufficient padding in that area--although not nearly enough to insulate it from the bitter cold of a downhill tushie slide.

Then I had to get back on my feet.

More gymnastics.

But when life hands you lemons...

Lemonade, anyone?

Since there is really no rational, sane reason to venture out, I have some extra time to use as I see fit. And that, of course, means I'm going to spend the day on the business of writing! I'm putting together a Young Adult proposal for a three-book series. The first book of the series is finished but needs to be updated and polished before I send it to the requesting editor. Geared for a middle-school readership, I've really enjoyed writing for the younger market. More on this project in the future.

So, instead of writing one synopsis today, I get to write TWO! Oh joy.

Uh, this particular pitcher of lemonade is tasting a wee bit tart...

So. Tell me. If you had an entire day to spend at home--with absolutely nothing you HAD to do, how would you spend that day? What would you do with an unexpected gift of a 'free' day? Would you cuddle up with a good book? Spend a day watching an entire season of a favorite show? Take a nap? Clean your house?

What would you do with your 'snow day'?

All things considered, I'd rather it be spring.

~Bullet Hole~

It's That Time Of Year That Goes Straight To My Thighs...

Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of Girl Scout leaders everywhere, like Girl Scout Cookie time. And nothing warms the cockles of my sugar-clogged arteries either.

My addiction started when I was 6 and opened that first box of Thin Mints. It was all over in seconds as I huffed that first, shiny sleeve.

Do you know there's no place for Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie junkies to dry out? You'd think Promises in Malibu or maybe something more local...but no. And the Girl Scouts suffer no public relations crisis because there's always a lengthy "cold turkey" period (complete with the shakes and terrible regret) waiting until the next season.

Girl Scouts contribute to the addiction of millions of adults each year. Like me, they begin with, "Oh, I'll just have a couple." And before you know it, they've fallen into a downward spiral of marvelous, minty, chocolate refreshment.

Every year, I order more and more boxes. And yet, every year, I curse myself as I polish off the last box. The agony begins anew as I wait an entire 359 days for Cookie Season to come again.

Sigh.

What's your Girl Scout Cookie addiction?

The Cookie Assassin